Mine were (and thank God I can use the past tense) a feeling of being suddenly suffused from the inside with feeling of being very hot, like a fever, but hotter, and then almost immediately drenched. (Oddly it didn't feel or smell like stinky sweat, like that from fear or tension, or physical exertion.) It was moisture that just appeared on my skin but it didn't make me feel cooler . And it was a lot of perspiration, all over my body: my face, chest, back, scalp , even forearms and legs were visibly wet, like I'd been out in a light rainfall.

In the day time when I was awake, it was a most internally riveting phyiscal experience. All I could think about was hot I felt. Not how hot it was outside (not a muggy, dry, hot wind, sticky blast of summer heat when you go outside from A/C kind of experience); it wasn't coming from outside - though those climatalogical events could make it feel worse - it was clearly internal, like a fever feels. I don't recall any prodromal sensation that it was about to happen. It just did. And in that instant I would be transformed from "normal me" to "hot flashed me". If I was calm and not fussed, then it was just hot; but if I was also at that moment stressed, or feeling cranky, well, then watch out because I was not good to be around. Also if I was on the cusp of making a decision, then I just couldn't; all I could focus on was how damned hot I was. It wouldn't matter if I was making a big decision or just deciding which hair scrunchy to use that day. That was a very vexing thing, even after I realized it was connected to the HF. My brain was just halted by the HF.

(That's why I had to develop rote strategies for dealing with them, because I was just transfixed at the moments they were happening.)

And then after a short time (maybe 2 to 5 minutes, though it seems longer) it's over. I was drenched but cooling off. It only rarely repeated itself for awhile (1 to 2 hours.)

Nighttime was different: if I as falling asleep, it would interfere with that. Sometimes in rapidly repeating cycles for 20 minutes or so. I learned to just get up and take a shower and change the bed and it would pass.

If had one when i was asleep, I would suddenly wake up drenched. My nightgown wet, and the whole bed assmblely soaked. I think it must have been the last one of a series that finally woke me.

Nighttime ones began later than daytime ones. Almost at the end of daytime ones, in fact.

They would also come and go. Sometimes stopping for a month or more, and then resuming, That was very discouraging.

Winter (in an unheated bedroom in northern NY) and summer (rehabbing a farm in VA w/o air conditioning) made no difference.

The night ones were the most debillitating because I began to get cumulatively very short of sleep. (Daytime ones just made me hard to live with!)

I took no HRT, nor any of the alternative treatments. I couldn't find any diet correlation. I may have tried Black Cohosh, or some such herb. But I didn't stick with it as I have trouble remembering to do anything like that for the long haul. I didn't feel it made a diff.

And then, suddenly, one day I realized they were really gone. Over all, I guess I had them, off and on, over the course of about two years. Definitely not three and not continuously.

My GYN warned me that for some women, they never end. I'm afraid that would make me suicidal.

I had HF after my periods had become somewhat irregular, until after they had stopped altogether. I was about 50-ish then

After my body had settled down, I'm happy to report that my energy, health, stamina, sense of physical well-being, and most importantly to me, my mind sharpened right back up to what feels like life-long normal. And I'm 63 now and don't feel substantially different than I did in my 40's. I look a bit different, however: greying hair, wrinkles, age spots, slight weight redistribution -though I'm still a size 10. And some, um, slight gravitationally-mediated alterations, shall we say. .

HTH,

L.

Not everyone goes through severe hot flashes. i have very mild ones that don't interfere with my daily life. They last a minute or two and then they are over.
Maybe you will be lucky too:)

Daytime, I don't notice they're coming until they are here. It feels like, suddenly, if I don't get cool immediately, I will melt. I don't get so drenched like lirio, though I will have my face sweat sometimes which is really weird. Fortunately, they don't last too long.

At night, the hot flash will wake you up before it comes...to make sure you don't miss it! I will wake up and wonder why I am up, and then within a couple of minutes, I know. The blankets and sheets have to be flipped off immediately! The sooner you get cool, the shorter they seem to last. I have learned now to wait for the hot flash at night before I go to the bathroom as that way I don't mind leaving the warm bed. The bad part is when, you've finally cooled off and are ready to get comfortable and fall back asleep, and you get real cozy again, wham! Another one hits and you're up again!

Unfortunately, I can't say they are past. I've had them for years and suspect I will, like my mother and her mother, have them until I die.

Hyperthyroidism can make you feel like you have hot flashes, but there are other symptoms too, like weight loss, ravenousness, tremors, higher blood pressure, faster resting pulse rate, muscle weakness. It's easily tested for with a blood test.

I just wanted to emphasize that everyone is different. I was one of the lucky ones who never had more then a quick feverish feeling. And it only happened a few times.

My sister in law (who lived a very healthy lifestyle) went through many months of having to change her night clothes every single night because of the sweating.

ML

I have been having warm flashes (getting hotter as I get closer to 50) for years actually since my mid thirties. Most of the time they sneak up on me while I am out and about. Then I am peeling off coats etc. I like to think of them as Tropical Moments close my eyes and pretend I am in Mexico.

I had a total hysterectomy in my mid-40's, but didn't start feeling flashy till nearly 50. The hot flash would start around my chest, or on my back in the area of my chest and it'd move upward-felt like I was blushing really hard. It wasn't uncomfortable, like a fever, but just a feeling of being really, really hot-but on the INSIDE, not like being in a hot room. I didn't sweat with them, but would have to start taking off jackets or over shirts and then fan myself.

At work I have a little fan to use while I'm flashing-usually lasts up to 15 minutes. I tend to get them mostly when I'm at the grocery store-don't know why there-i don't get them when I'm out in the field!

At night, I will just wake up overly hot and throw all the blankets off and pull off my pj top. Other times I will wake up with a light film of sweat-but I don't get drenched.

They just kind of happen-mine have never been debilitating, just annoying. I feel like I run a couple degrees warmer than others, but my temp is normal.

I had a hysterectomy mid-40's but kept my ovaries. In many cases you will start menopause within a couple years due to the decrease in estrogen when the uterus is removed. That is what happened to me.

I had no symptoms at all and then bang. I was at a patient's home and was changing a catheter. All of a sudden I looked like someone had dumped a bucket of water over my head. The liquid was pooled on the backs of my hands and dripping off of my fingers and down through my hair and over my face...a mess. The patient's care person ran and got a roll of paper towels and mopped my face while I, who had on sterile gloves etc and was leaning over the bed in this little trailer out in the rural back of beyond in AL , finished the cath change.

To say I was unhappy is putting it mildly. I had the same inability to make a decision and couldn't sleep at night , not to mention no libido . I would be at an intersection out in the county on the way to a patient's home and have to pull over because I couldn't make sense of the words in the directions.

I kept this up for a couple weeks. That was it . 16 yrs ago I started taking Estratest and have never missed a dose since. I never will. I have never had another flash and don't intend to find out if I will. I love the way I feel and I love the way the hormones keep my skin and feelings intact :) I have no uterus and am extremely active. I get a thorough check up every year and mammogram. I have no hesitation in taking Estratest. It has great reviews and I am a living breathing example of how HRT is the best thing ever.

Every woman has to make the decision for herself. I would have been unable to continue to work in my field of home health nursing with the symptoms I was having. My mother still had hot flashes at 88 when she passed and had put up with them for decades. I had no desire to find out if that would be the case with me or if mine would stop at some point. I certainly wasn't going to quit work or change my lifestyle one bit. Nor was I going to lose one hour of sleep or bath/change clothes/no love life. Nope...only one decision and I happily made it.

I am glad you are getting a thorough check up. Please post back . Information and informed choices with the help of a good medical consultant are what you need.c

Mine were never a big deal. At first it felt like my back was on fire. I expected to see flames shooting out of my back! That did not last long and after that it felt the way blushing feels. Intensely hot for a moment and then it faded away. I never had night sweats.

My MIL had the weirdest thing. She would get awful sweats only on half her body. The right side of her face would look perfectly normal and the left half would be bright red and pouring sweat. Very strange.

TR, please keep your lungs in mind too. Mother was on HRT for over 20 years and ended up with lung cancer that they said was not smoking related (she didn't smoke but lived with smokers 90% of her life). There is a lung cancer that has estrogen receptors on it similar to breast cancer...

You might also want to look into the patch and bioidentical hormones and using the hormones to mimic the natural cycle (4 weeks of estrogen with 2 weeks of progesterone added). Some argue it is safer that way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Menopause Power

Thank you annie for your suggestions. I feel great and since I have a really good MD who works with me I am confident in my choices. I appreciate your taking the time to post. c

I was another lucky one who didn't have terrible hot flashes. When I got them during the day, they were just kind of hot "flushing" but never to the point where I'd be drenched in perspiration.

The night-time flashes were the ones that really interfered. I would get them several times throughout the night so many sleep interruptions and they seemed stronger as there were actual night sweats happening.

My doctor suggested I try an over the counter supplement. I don't recall the name but it's clearly labeled as something for menopause and it was in the section of the drugstore where they had vitamins and other supplements. That did the trick for me and I never needed anything stronger like hormone replacement.

I never had a hot flash until my gyno put me on Evista for osteoporosis. After that, it felt like I had a heating pad against my back, turned up on high. I put up with it for 2 years until last month when I finally told my new gyno that I had had enough and started taking HRT. I had asked her about bioidentical hormones but she said they were all the same. However, I'm going to talk to my internist about them this week and see if there is something safer.

I had a complete hysterectomy at age 31 and was put on estrogen which was great until I was 50 and two of my sisters got estrogen positive cancer. I told my dr. and she said "it's time to come off the estrogen" due to increasing my chances of getting it. What a nightmare! I didn't know that it would send me into a hormonal storm which was at the same time that my thyroid bit the dust. Talk about sweats!! I was having about 40 hot flashes a day with red face and beads of sweat. At work, I'd go outside to cool off and, to this day, at age 74 I still get them but only a few a week. I can deal with that easily, I used to get up and get in a shower in the middle of the night. It was like prickly heat burning in to me. I hope no one else experiences this and you wouldn't if you have estrogen. Good for you TR. I would do the same if I could.

Mine started as a a quick flash of heat quickly followed by ice cold feeling. I find it harder to deal with the mood swings, and a loss of brain power, very foggy thinking. Hate that.

I too had a hysterectomy early-40's but kept my ovaries. within 2 years started menopause. I too started HRT and have continued to the present age of 63. I have twice tried going off HRT but the hot flashes returned almost immediately with a vengeance. However due to recent other health changes my doctor wants me off because of the incidence of blot clots. I already have a greater risk, so he no longer wants me to take it. He has suggested a anti-depressant that he said would possibly help, venlafaxine. I am in the process of researching that now. From what I have read so far, it is being used for menopause. Has anyone else used it? I have filled the prescription but have yet to start taking it.

I haven't experienced the terribly intense hot flashes with sweating etc--see comments below. Have had a relatively light version that I think of as my wonky thermostat setting. Things are settling down now that I"m 3 years past LMP. Haven't had night sweats in awhile and although those never were frequent, they were definitely annoying.

Mary Lu and others, your doctor is suggesting a light dose of an anti-depressant that has the side effect of helping with hot flashes. Your med is called Effexor, and the FDA just approved a lighter dose of Paxil, a similar SSRI (see link) for the same purpose.

I won't take hormones because of a family breast cancer history, and when I started menopause I used Lexapro, another SSRI, for a couple of years. I started it because knowing how severe and debilitating my PMS had been all my life, I was worried about the emotional/mental effects of menopause. It helped immensely with that and had the happy side effect of probably lessening the hot flashes as well. I took about half the clinical dose, used it for a few years while I was in the midst of menopause, then tapered off.

So for those in menopause who don't or can't take HRT, I suggest talking to your dr. about this option. Despite the stigma of taking anti depressants, the meds can be extremely useful for dealing with some of the issues women face at this time of life. I have no regrets about using the Lexapro and am glad there was an option that helped me when I needed it.

Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Hot Flash Drug Approved by FDA

That's interesting, runninginplace. I've been on a mild dose of antidepressants for at least 15 years or so. Maybe that's why I didn't experience the bad hot flashes and could get by with the over-the-counter supplement I described above.

Gosh, I am really glad to see this post, and really need to figure this out. I went on Effexor about 7 years ago, as a fix for hot flashes and a sudden irritability I was feeling. But I went off it a year ago, mostly because I wondered if I was even having symptoms anymore (i.e. Did I even NEED the Effexor?) and also because I felt like it was kind of numbing me a bit, even though I was on a fairly low dose (75 mg). Not an easy drug to get off, but I did. Now, 11 months later, I am suffering mightily with hot flashes, insomnia, panic attacks and a difficult to explain "over examination" of my life. Suddenly nothing is right or good or acceptable. Ugh. Because I suffer from migraines with aura, I have a heightened risk for both stroke and heart disease, which means HRT is not really a solution for me. I'm hesitant to go back on Effexor because of the slight numbing affect, and the difficulty getting off it, but not sure what else to do....

bestyears, you mention difficulty getting off Effexor. What exactly was difficult? Hope you don't mind my asking, but I am concerned and don't want to start something that might cause other problems. I just know that the doctor says I need to get off the HRT now! He suggested I start the Effexor right away and taper off the HRT (every other day)

Well, my dr. thinks my "wonky thermostat setting" (RunningInPlace: I'm stealing that phrase!) is a version of hot flashes. I guess I can deal with that -- but I sure don't want those night sweats! My heat, so far, doesn't create any sweating or dripping, so I'm happy with that. I guess my body is telling my mind that I really AM as old as my birth certificate alleges!

A couple things to consider. If you don't have your uterus then you can take HRT that is just estrogen...no progesterone involved. The risks are much much less and the benefits are great.

The prescribing of an anti-depressant for relief of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms leaves out the single greatest benefit of HRT.You lose the benefit of reduced bone loss and skin/muscle deterioration. Osteoporosis and the loss of muscle mass and increased weakness all lead to falls and fractures which take a much greater toll than the s/e of estrogen alone. The benefits of estrogen in preventing heart disease and osteoporosis are well documented. I just want to put this info out there for those that do not have their uterus.

The other concern with taking an anti-depressant , even a small dose, and then thinking that you can just stop it is ill-conceived. Indeed some folks are able to do this. But if you read the reports from folks that have taken psychotropic drugs there is some very compelling evidence that not everyone can stop taking the drug. I am addressing the use of the drug for menopause not specifically for debilitating depression.

Here is a quote from webmd:

"It's true that taking an SSRI changes the chemistry inside your brain. This causes subtle changes in the way you feel, act, and behave."

and another :

"SSRIs do affect libido and sexual experience in many people. Men often experience delayed ejaculation. Men and women may have a decreased intensity or ability to orgasm. Estimates vary, but research shows between 20% and 45% of people will experience some decline in sexual function. ""Bottom Line: SSRIs commonly cause a decline in sexual function. Talk to your health care provider to learn what you can do to overcome this frustrating side effect"

It is called SSRI withdrawal syndrome. It can be very difficult to stop the med. There have been reports of a "buzzing" in the head when taking Lexapro. My Mom took it and had amazing results. She was mid 80's at the time and neither her Dr or Mom or I were concerned with the potential problems of taking the med due to her age and the vast improvement in her feelings. But to take one of the psychotropics as a relief of menopause symptoms ,I feel ,flies in the face of what the symptoms are and how to control them.

I am only posting this as I think information is a wonderful thing and I think the more a person knows before starting any medication the better off that person is. c

mary_lu - If you google it, you will see that it is a pretty common problem. Withdrawal symptoms range from fuzzy brain, headaches, to what I experienced, which was retching, extreme nausea, a flat-out terrible flu-like/food poisoning episode that lasted about two weeks. There is also an initial depression for a month or so. I'm leaving on our lake vacation today, but will check back with this post when I return.

"But to take one of the psychotropics as a relief of menopause symptoms ,I feel ,flies in the face of what the symptoms are and how to control them."

And...for those in whom medical facets mitigate against HRT, they can really be of tremendous help.

Trail, this is I think another of the many YMMV (your mileage may vary) topics. For you, HRT has been a very positive medication plan. For *me*, the risk of dying from cancer outweighs the use of a drug to fool my body into thinking it is still youthful enough to be issuing the hormones that are affected by menopause. And that really is what HRT is, bottom line. You are mimicking the biochemical profile of a premenopausal woman, and you are definitely putting chemicals into your body that can cause some very serious and even fatal side effects for some people. Again, for many women the severe issues related to menopause make the hormonal route the one of choice. However, there is a reason that HRT is no longer touted as the panacea and 'cure' for menopausal symptoms.

As for stopping SSRI drugs, no you can't simply quit taking them like aspirin. However, to taper off with a good long period of slow withdrawal seems to alleviate or eliminate many if not most of the dire side effects for most people. This is what I did, and recall that for relief of menopausal/hot flash symptoms a sub clinical dose can be all that is needed. I tapered over about 6 weeks of slow withdrawal and had no problems.

As for the bone health, one can also take plenty of calcium and/or use one of the meds specifically formulated to increase bone density.

Again, this is something everyone needs to decide for herself, weighing the pros and cons for the INDIVIDUAL. Every option comes with risks and advantages.

Ann

"Every option comes with risks and advantages" - that is so very true. I am so thankful I have not had problems and had to make a choice of taking any type meds. I was on bc pills for years due to PCOS and just in the past year went off. Because of that, I've had very, very few symptoms of menopause. A few hot-flashes that were not intense at all. Honestly, before and after my sinus surgery I was on prednisone for several weeks and the hot flashes, flushing (whatever it was) was much worse that the hormonal ones. I've had no sleep difficulties, no brain fog, no change in energy level, etc. The only other symptom is breast tenderness at certain times.

My own gyn (female) is an advocate of HRT. She is just a few years older than me and it has been wonderful having her as a doctor. She herself took HRT but she is a breast cancer survivor. She and her sister were diagnosed THE SAME DAY with breast cancer. However, while she is an advocate of HRT (for those that do not have risks), she stresses that the treatment should be short term only.

I didn't know what to expect because my mother and grandmother both had early age hysterectomies.

tina

Thanks for taking the time to give additional information. I should expand on my reasons. I no longer have a uterus, so have taken HRT. However, there is a history of blood clots in my family. I discussed this with my doctor and made the decision to continue after trying twice unsuccessfully to stop taking HRT. But now recently I have had 2 stints put in, one in my heart and one in my groin due to blockages. I am now taking anti-clotting medication and my doctor really wants me to get off the long term HRT. That is why he suggested venlafaxine due to it's ability to help with hot flashes, but not the risk of clotting. Guess I have some thinking to do.

I stopped ovulating at age 51, no breakthrough bleeding OR hot flashes, just night sweats, and a fan seemed to remedy things for me. At that time I was a full blown exercise fanatic, and *really* feel that's what made things so easy for me. I'm now 70, no problems and can still touch my toes, and just keep moving!

That said, if you can walk and break a sweat, as well as light weight training, you may be able to beat those awful hot flashes. It's worth the try.

Wouldn't it be nice if all these decisions were easy? But they aren't. Medicine has to be individualized as we are all different, genetically, and now the big focus is on our micro biome too which is just as unique.

I am currently taking black cohosh twice a day and I'm taking DIM once a day to help control hot flashes. I tried tapering off the black cohosh, but they clearly got worse without it. I tried shatavari but it had no affect on my symptoms. I have a jar of Pueraria Mirifica (a plant estrogen) in the cabinet but haven't tried it yet. My GF started taking it and she started spotting again, so she has since cut back the dose to where she's not spotting. I have to admit that she looks and acts terrific on it. But she also now has boobs (despite losing weight) which she didn't have before...a side effect which my bras have no room for. So I've not gone there yet....but it's waiting for me.

I've often thought about my mother and hrt. She had had a complete hysterectomy and was taking the lowest dose possible of the estrogen only, but she still ended up getting cancer. But she was young and strong and vital...people thought she was in her 60s when she was 80. So perhaps there's a trade off between quality and length of life with HRT and that's the choice to be made.

If you are taking HRT, they do make natural plant based estrogens now instead of from mare's urine, and the patch is supposed to be safer than a pill as it avoids the liver.

I called my obgyn today and told her I was going to quit taking the HRT. I started having breakthrough bleeding and cramps, looked up the symptoms and found that the bleeding is a normal side effect (didn't say anything about the cramps), but it also had a warning not to take them if there is a history of breast disease of lumps, which I have had since I was about 20. Argh. Now I'll have to find something else for the hot flashes or just live with them.

I've been doing a LOT of research about this - I've been having some awful symptoms for the past 2 years (since turning 40) -- some of which are typical menopause related stuff and some are not, but I suspect all are related to hormonal decline. I've been getting bloodwork and basically, my estrogen and thyroid are both circling the drain --- my last bloodwork showed the estrogen level of a 60 year old (I'm 42! WTH!)

I am pursuing bioidentical hormone replacement via cream. I don't have it all figured out yet (I get the feeling that there's a lot of experimenting on yourself til you find the right combo) but from the reading I did, I am pretty confident that this is what I need. Those of you saying you can't take HRT because of pre-existing tendency to blood clots or migraines or whatever might want to investigate the bioidentical stuff via transdermal cream. Blood clots are only an issue when estrogen is taken orally and passes through the liver -- if you are delivering it via skin or patch, there is no increased risk of blood clots (and in fact, your risk of other heart issues goes way down). Migraines are also one of the things that estrogen can help. And even the connection between estrogen and breast cancer is not as cut and dried as I thought -- I feel safe taking the bioidentical estrogen.

I have read probably 20 books on the subject of menopause and HRT and the one I found most clear ad helpful is called Screaming to Be Heard by Elizabeth Vliet. I would recommend reading it - it pretty much debunks a lot of the things that I had heard about HRT including the results of that women's health study that caused everyone to abandon HRT -- did you know that whole study was done with synthetic hormones, not bioidentical? And that none of the horrible side effects found in that study have been found in studies that use bioidentical hormones? They are all related to the synthetic stuff like norethidrone and premarin. Because the pharmaceutical companies can't patent a naturally occuring substance and therefore can't make big bucks of bioidentical, there have been few efforts to educate doctors or do controlled studies on bioidentical hormones, but the studies that have been done show amazing benefits without the scary side effects. (Of course, the pharma companies don't want you to know that, because they want you to keep taking your premarin....)

I never had a hot flash. My periods just got irregular and finally I had my last one at age 52. My mom told me she never had a hot flash either.

lkplatow, thanks for the info. I will look into it. Sounds like it might be something that could work for me.

Thanks lkplatow -I will definitely follow up on your info!

I just started having pre menopause symptoms in June. I didn't think it was menopause related at first but my dr. confirmed it. Besides hot flashes I get a shaking feeling and panic attacks. It just started all at once and made me think it was something else. I never heard of the shaking feeling but had lunch with a friend who had it for 5 years.

I started taking black cohash and it does seem to help a little. Annie how much are you taking per day?

I wish I had known about the shaking and the panic attacks. All I had ever heard of was the hot flashes and dryness.

debra - OMG, someone else who gets the shaking feeling. I can't stand it!!! I have also had other odd symptoms - muscle cramps and knots in my muscles, overwhelming fatigue, aches and pains, feeling like I have to pee all the time, chronic yeast infections and itching "down there". I think there's a lot more to menopause and perimenopause than hot flashes and night sweats and it amazes me that there isn't more medical study of this. Think about it - most fibromyalgia patients are women and most are diagnosed between the ages of 35 and 45 -- I suspect fibro is directly related to hormone imbalance caused by perimenopause. The authors of a few of the books I have read also believe there is a connection, but it is not something that any mainstream doctor will typically think of when treating a fibro patient -- you'll be more likely to get "we don't know what causes it and we can't cure it, but here's some pain meds and antidepressants that you can take for the rest of your life."

I really think it is a crime against women that modern medicine does not put more resources into studying menopause and hormonal decline.

Off my soapbox for a minute, I have found that adding extra B-vitamins (specifically a super B- complex, plus 50mg a day of B6 plus 500mg of panthothenic acid (B5)) helped the shaky feeling a lot. It also started my leg hair growing again (it had completely stopped, as had my eyebrows). Also, I added an herb called ashwagandha and that helped the shakey feeling as well - I used to wake up feeling like my insides were vibrating every morning and since adding the ashwagandha, I rarely feel that way.

I also found that maca was an herb that helped hot flashes, but after a while, it seemed to lose its effectiveness. It worked well for a while though.

This post was edited by lkplatow on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 19:42

lkplatow, I also have had chronic yeast infections. Of everything the shaking feeling is the worst. Thanks for the info on the supplements you are taking.

pammyfay,
Sorry I didn't answer your OP. My "hot flashes" are longer than a flash also. Sometimes its just that I feel warmer in a room than everyone else. Other times my face feels flushed but looks fine. This feeling sometimes lasts 20 min. Sometimes it will come and go over a period of a few hours.